Skip main navigation

Please note: On Thursday, April 25, Stone Zoo volunteers, employees and local emergency responders will take part in a routine animal escape exercise. While the exercise is occurring, guests have the opportunity to participate in the evacuation portion, and may be asked to move to certain areas within the Zoo for a brief period of time (not to exceed 10 minutes). These exercises are an important part of our preparedness training, and we appreciate your participation and understanding. If you have any questions about what to expect, please don't hesitate to contact us at 617-989-2000 or info@zoonewengland.org.

x
Close menu
Koda, the turtle-detection dog

Turtle Dog, Koda


Koda, the Zoo’s “Turtle Dog,” is trained to assist staff in locating turtles in their native habitat as part of vital conservation work to protect and bolster regionally threatened populations of turtles, particularly the locally rare eastern box turtle.

ZNE biologists currently depend on imprecise visual surveys to locate box turtles in dense woodlands. With their well camouflaged shells, human observers might step right next to a hiding box turtle without ever finding it. A dog, however, can use its highly developed sense of smell to pinpoint the turtles much more quickly and effectively. And that’s where Koda, our Australian shepherd mix comes in.

With more than 220 million olfactory receptors in its nose, a dog’s sense of smell is over 1,000 times greater than that of humans, making dogs like Koda a researcher’s best friend. Dogs can be trained to distinguish between different species of turtles and possibly even males and females of one species.

Koda’s trainer, Zoo New England Assistant Curator Chris Bartos, is no stranger to this line of work. Bartos trained Finn, the first ever scat (feces) detection dog at the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) in Namibia. Bartos hopes the skills and training techniques she used to teach Finn will be as successful with Koda.

Koda is also a frequent zoo visitor, going on walks through Franklin Park Zoo several days a week in between her training and play sessions. It’s likely that a few lucky guests may have the chance to spot the small brown pup wearing her bright “Turtle Dog” vest.